Shoe-top fastener.



PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903. J W REILLEY SHOE TOP FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1902.

N0 MODEL UNITE STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. REILLEY, OF EAST LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH AMERICAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,.A CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SHOE-TOP FAST EN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,194, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed June 8, 1902. Serial No. 110,113. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,J.0HN W. REILLEY,a citizen of the United States, residing at 4. Morton Hill avenue, East Lynn, in the county of Es- 5 sex and State of Massachusetts, have invent" ed new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Top Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a top-fastener, for

[ shoes; and it has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eflicient device of great strength and durability designed to be employed in the place of tying or lacing boots and shoes over a last and adapted to enable r boots and shoes to be fastened more expeditiously and capable of ready adjustment to arrange it for engaging boots and shoes having eyelets arranged at different distances apart.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be readily transferred from one shoe to another and which will not have to be removed from the shoe until the work thereon has been com- 2 5 pleted..

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter desecribed and shown, and particularly pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

go In the drawings forming part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a top-fastener for shoes constructed in accordance with this in- 3 5 vention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view. 'Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the slidable eyelet-engaging hooks.

Referring to the drawings,l and 2 designate two bars or members provided at their lower 0 ends with inwardly-extending overlapped ears 3 and 4,which are perforated for the reception of a pivot 5 fonhinging the two bars or members together. .Each bar or member is pro: vided with a series of slidable eyelet-engaging devices 6, consisting of hooks having approximately semicircular engaging portions and provided at their shanks with loops 7, encircling the bar or member and arranged to slide longitudinally thereof, whereby the hooks are upper portion of the same.

adapted to be arranged at different distances apart to enable them to engage shoes having eyelets arranged at varying intervals. The hooks are engaged with the eyelets of a shoe while the fastener is open, and the latter is then closed to confine the upper of the shoe on a last, and it is secured in its closed position by means of a lockin g device 8, consisting of a lever having its arms arranged approximately at right angles, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. 'The lever is pivoted at its angle to the upper end of the bar or member 1 by a rivet or other suitable fas toning device, and one arm extends outward to form a handle, and the other arm is provided with an inwardly-extending lug or bill 10, adapted to engage an eye 11, located at the upper end of the bar or member 2. The locking device is retained in engagement with the eye 11 by'means of a spring 12, extending longitudinally of the bar or member 1 and arranged adjacent to the inner edge of the The ends of the spring are secured in perforations or eyes 13 and 14 of the lever and the bar or member 1; but the spring may be omitted, if desired.

The device is engaged with the upper of a shoe in the stitching-room, and it remains in engagement with the same until the shoe is completed. It is designed to extend from the neck or throat of the shoe to the top or last; but it may be of any desired length, as will be readily understood.

What I claim is-- A top-fastener for shoes, comprising two members hinged together at the bottom, one of the members being provided at the top with an eye, a spring actuated locking device mounted on the other member for engaging the eye, and means carried by the members for engaging the eyes of the shoe, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. REILLEY.

Witnesses:

HOWARD D. WHEATON, J OSEPH A. LEACH. 

